Cimos restructuring brought to a close

Ljubljana, 5 December - The financial restructuring of car parts maker Cimos, one of the biggest going concerns on the books of the Bank Assets Management Company (BAMC), was successfully completed as Italian firm TCH Cogeme wrapped up the takeover in May.

KoperCar industry supplier Cimos.Photo: Hina/STA

The transaction ended over a year of uncertainty over the deal for some 4,000 employees and hundreds of contractors, the deal having been complicated by Cimos's 1990s debt to a Croatian bank. The stand-off required intervention by both governments to resolve, a nail-biting process which took several months and reflected ongoing tensions between the two countries.

TCH Cogeme paid a symbolic EUR 100,000 for the 92% stake sold by the bad bank, Sovereign Holding (SSH) and several commercial banks. It also supplied fresh capital and took on EUR 110m in Cimos's debt. Despite the successful financial restructuring, Cimos is likely to shed some 150 workers in Slovenia, about a tenth of its total workforce here.